Use of lower-cost heavy residue bunker fuel, particularly in marine diesel powerplants, often results in an engine operational anomaly due to a slower flame front dwelling too long in a cylinder, and burning oil film off walls of the cylinder. This may cause greatly increased wear from piston ring abrasion, resulting in reduced engine life or a non-optimal engine state. Use of a fuel which has too much heavy content can rapidly deteriorate a powerplant, requiring expensive repair/rebuild.
In addition, biodiesel fuel has not generally been widely adopted for use in consumer automobiles in some cases because a flame speed for biodiesel fuel is generally slower than a flame speed for conventional diesel fuel. This can mean that the biodiesel fuel may not be completely consumed before an operating phase of an engine opens exhaust valves. Not completely consuming the biodiesel fuel can lead to greatly reduced fuel economy and potential thermal engine anomaly. Increasing the flame speed of biodiesel would make biodiesel more suitable for use in consumer or other high rpm diesel engines.